2nd Birthday

The Greatest Loser – Weeks 3 to 5

Time is going so quickly and I have to apologize for not updating sooner.  Week 3 we got back into fourth place and week 4 we were in 2nd place although only just.  We’re still to see the result of week 5 and now we have just started week 6.  Week 3 saw the second challenge which was called “Balls of Fury” and was a relay race worked in pairs across the width of the basketball court.  I ended up going twice as only 2 members of our team were there and we only managed to get one sub (another member of staff).  Last night was the third challenge called “ICC” (Individual Cardio Challenge).  This was meant that provided each person of your team turned up you would only take one stint on one machine.  The team should complete a 5 minute stint on 4 separate machines:  the arc trainer (a form of elliptical); stairmaster; treadmill and the espresso bike.  Apparently the espresso bike is some sort of bike with a game on it.  Kim (our team leader) did this one as she is a spinning instructor and we know that she got the highest score.  I did the treadmill which was run as far as you could in 5 minutes with the treadmill at a level of 5.0.  I managed 0.34 miles.  I was proud of that especially as I’m not a runner.  Jennifer went on the stairmaster which was a matter of climbing as many floors as possible in 5 minutes; and I then did the arc trainer for 5 minutes.  Although Chris had signed in he is the Membership Director at the club so he had to run back and supervise an event.  The arc trainer I think was at a level 5 and a resistence 10 although I’m not sure and I think I managed 0.23 miles total.  Tonight we have another lecture although it won’t be nutritional but apparently about the benefits of massage.

My points have been:  week 3 – 111.5; week 4 – 132; week 5 – 108.  This week I’ll hopefully get back on track with my points and the rest of the team are hoping to too so that we can get our footing back in the ladder so to speak.  I have been working out about 3 times a week although this week will be 4 including 2 x kinesis class; 1 x personal training session and 1 x spinning class.  I finally saw the scales drop this week – 5 weeks it is definitely about time.  I’m hoping that my body fat is reducing but I won’t know until December 8th.

I’ll try to keep you more updated.

Onwards and Upwards

Conrad and MC have just been out to visit us for 10 days and during that time Kirsten learn’t to climb the stairs.  Not just the 3 we have between the family room and the kitchen, but John decided to see how far she would go – yes, all the way to the top by our bedroom.  While I write this she is trying to get into every little thing in the office.  I need a set of eyes in the back of my head.

What else has gone on since the last update?  I feel like it has been a constant battle with sickness.  We have all had flu had different times.  It started with John, then Kirsten had a cold/cough and then I had the flu.  John then had a fever for a weekend again followed by Kirsten with gastroenteritus and then to myself and John both having stomach flu.

This week we had our grass taken out and artificial turf laid in our back garden.   The grass itself here takes so much maintenance and water which Phoenix does have a lack of, and the grass has so many bugs in that you get bitten a lot that we decided to take it out and give Kirsten a nice play area.  It’s amazing.  I’ll make sure that I include some pictures on Shutterfly for you all to link to in the next couple of days.  Sorry to keep this short and sweet, but Kirsten is causing too much trouble.

Where’s Autumn?

Another month has almost come and gone. We’re still waiting to get cooler temperatures as Phoenix keeps setting record highs. Kirsten has gone through a growth spurt and at not even 5.5 months has outgrown her 3-6 month clothing, and we discovered if we wanted her next set of clothes to last more than a few weeks it wasn’t even worth investing in 6-9 month so we’ve gone direct to 9-12 month clothing. It’s a little long on her, but if she grows like she did last month (almost 2 inches) it will soon fit.

We’ve celebrated Halloween since last updating the blog and Kirsten was the only one to dress up. She also learnt to roll from her front to her back on Halloween although at the moment it is a little hit and miss and she’s also fairly lazy so if she screams loud enough and long enough Mum is going to turn her the right way round. She moves around by doing a caterpillar crawl on her back and has become best friends with Mohawk who constantly washes her hands in between me wiping them clean again.

Our next set of guests arrive on November 28 – December 3. Anne and her daughter, Margrethe are coming over from Norway. Anne is Sigrid’s mother’s best friend since childhood. John’s parents then arrive with us on 13 December and stay through until New Year’s Eve. We also received word the other day that Conrad and MC have already booked their trip for next year and will be coming out a few weeks later than they have for the last couple of years. As usual we continue to keep ourselves busy.

Guests Have Been and Gone

Well for the time being all of our guests have left. We thought our next set would be John’s parents arriving 2nd week of December to spend 3 weeks (including Christmas) with us, but it now looks as if Aunty Anne and Margrethe from Oslo may be coming to spend a week with us at the end of November. They said they fancied a “Winter holiday”. To tell you the truth I would love to see some snow, but that’s going to be a fun trip up to Flagstaff in a year or so for Kirsten to see what the white stuff is.

I got Kirsten to the photographer again before the last of our guests left so get some pictures. Can you believe she’s now 4 months old and over 15 lbs in weight (almost 7 kilos). She’s also very long 25″ (63 cm) and growing.

John goes away on Sunday morning until Wednesday evening on a business trip leaving us to fend for ourselves. We’re doing quite well. I’m at long last trying to start my diet and exercise again so I start every day taking Kirsten out in her push chair for 2.5 miles. It’s still a bit hot and sweaty and I’d really like the temperatures to come down another 10 degrees (into the 80s which are the low 30s C) but it’s my time. Kirsten dozes in the push chair and I listen to music on the ipod. John and I then try to get out again every other evening after dinner to walk the dogs too. I’ll keep you updated on how the weight loss goes!!